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By Jon Fleck
For the Mirror
Central took advantage of two hit batsmen to score a run in the top in the first of its 2024 Curve Classic quarterfinal game.
Northern Cambria had a batter hit in the bottom of the first as well but failed to score. It was the start of trend.
The two teams combined to hit 11 batters. Central capitalized. Northern didn't.
A combination of 14 hits, five hit batters and six Northern errors led to a 14-1 Central win Thursday afternoon at PNG Field.
Central pitcher Mason Sparks no-hit the Colts but Northern had baserunners on throughout thanks to six hit batsmen and three walks. Only one came around to score, however, with the Scarlet Dragons already leading 14-0 in the fifth.
Sparks pitched in the tourney last year, but he enjoyed this outing much more.
"Last year, I had a start here. It wasn't very good. It was rocky," he said. "My 2-seam was hitting people. Working in a lot. My slider was pretty good. I just praise the defense, grabbing everything that came there way."
"Sparks has great stuff on the mound," Central coach A.J. Hoenstine said. "He got a little wild at times. He's a sophomore. We'll figure that out. He has some talent. If he works, he could be something special."
Central plays Altoona in the semifinals today at 3 p.m. Altoona advanced with a win over Curwensville Thursday afternoon. Northern takes on Bishop Guifoyle Catholic this morning in the 10 a.m. consolation game. BG lost to Northern Bedford Thursday morning.
"Playing here is special for our kids and the team," Hoenstine said. "We started of kind of slow, but picked it up, strung some hits together and put runs on the board."
Central broke the game open with four runs in the third and eight more in the fourth.
Britton Marko and Troy McNichol smashed back-to-back doubles in the third, each bringing a run home. McNichol then scored on a error before Lucas Black's squeeze bunt plated Jay Hoenstine.
Hoenstine and Black got the fourth inning barrage started with a pair of two-run singles. Hunter Smith capped it off with a ringing two-run double.
McNichol led the Dragons with two hits and three RBIs. Black knocked in three while Smith and Hoenstine added two RBIs each. Britton Marko had two hits and an RBI on offense plus an excellent defensive play in the third that shut down a potential Northern rally.
Trailing 5-0 at the time, Northern put runners on first and second with no outs and leadoff hitter Shawn Gisler up.
Sparks got Gisler looking then Marko threw behind the runner at second for a double play to effectively end the Colts scoring chance.
"I saw him getting a big lead off second, relayed a signal to the second baseman Griff Snowberger, and he recognized it," Marko said. "I called it the pitch before but the ball was in the dirt so I couldn't throw it. Went to the next pitch and gunned him out at second."
"We have a great group of boys. The problem is we take ourselves out of games. Even the games we've won, we haven't played our best baseball," NC coach Brian Bougher said. "We didn't take advantage of the slim opportunities that we had. Even there at the end, we had the bases loaded, no outs, but only scored one run. We didn't have a very good approach at the plate today. Their pitcher's very good, but we could have worked the count more. We didn't make him work very hard at all."
CENTRAL (14): Smith 1b 211, Harbaugh ph 000, Snowberger 2b 220, Clapper ph 100, Marko c 202, Mellott ph 101, McNichol rf 222, Beltz 100 ph, Hoenstine cf-lf 321, Dionis DH 411, Sparks p 000, Black 3b 211, Oakes ph 100, Dilling ss 312, Hetrick ph 111, Byler 312 lf, Loucks cr-ph 120. Totals – 29 14 14.
NORTHERN CAMBRIA (1): Shawn Gisler dh 200, Fry 2b 000, Shane Gisler lf 000, Bougher pr 000, Shutty 1b-p 000, Valeria cf 300, Messina ss 200, Dolney 3b 100, Hoover 3b 200, Lockard c 100, Dumm rf 100, Weller rf 100, Wagner p-lf 000, Weaver 010, Pershing 1b-lf 100. Totals 14 1 0.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Central 104 81X X -- 14 14 1
No. Cambria 000 01X X -- 1 0 6
E--Smith, Lockard, Pershing, Valeria, Fry, Hoover, Weaver. RBI--Smith 2, Marko, Mellott, McNichol 3, Hoenstine 2, Black 3. 2B--Dionis, Marko, Smith, McNichol.
Pitching
Central: Sparks (W) 5.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6, SO, 6 HBP, 7 LOB.
Northern Cambria: Wagner (L) 2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2. Shutty 0.1 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HBP. Weaver 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 2 HBP.
Records: Central (8-1); Northern Cambria (5-2).